Unite warns Rolls-Royce of future skill shortages as i...

Unite warns Rolls-Royce of future skill shortages as it vows to fight for jobs and skills

04 November 2014

Britain’s largest union, Unite, warned Rolls-Royce of future skill shortages and called for guarantees over compulsory redundancies as the company announced it was cutting 2,600 jobs mainly from its aerospace division.

The union warned that the company was in danger of hollowing out its skills base and could see vital engineering expertise lost to the UK aerospace industry.

Commenting, Unite national officer Ian Waddell said: “Rolls-Royce is danger of making decisions in the short-term that it will later regret.

“Engineering skills and expertise are already in short supply across the aerospace industry and will be difficult to replace should there be an up-turn in business.

“We will be seeking guarantees over no compulsory redundancies and seeking assurances that the company doesn’t turn to casual labour to plug the skills cap in the future, or seek to offshore skilled UK jobs.

“This is a bitter blow to a proud workforce and we will be doing everything we can to fight for jobs and skills.”

ENDS

For further information please contact Unite head of media and campaigns Alex Flynn on 020 3371 2066 or 07967 665869.

Notes to editors:

Unite is Britain and Ireland’s largest trade union with over 1.4 million members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Len McCluskey